Motorsport: Fans take slow road to Taupo race

Mac Meta, Malcolm Pollock, Gaz Glossop, Matthew Doms and Alan Wright-St Clair watch the A1GP racing from atop the Bedford. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Despite getting a new radiator, a current registration and a bright green paint job - Malcolm Pollock's 1975 CF Bedford almost didn't make it to the A1GP in Taupo.

The Feilding resident spent more than $1000 on the campervan - which he hasn't used since going to Taupo for last year's event - and about four hours creating a "Go Kiwi" banner, to get it ready.

But it broke down three times on the trip up on Thursday, jumping out of gear. The usual 2 hour journey took more than five hours.

To add to their troubles, after setting up camp in the Taupo Motorsport Park carpark, the men were told the rules had changed and they couldn't camp there like they did last year. They ended up parking by the lake instead.

Mr Pollock and his friends watched most of the action from a couch on the top of their van while drinking beer and cooking on a barbecue.

About 35,000 spectators went through the gates yesterday, with a total of about 50,000 during the three-day racing event.

Taupo resident Phil Tataurangi took his 8-year-old son Kahu, his son's friend Louie Love-Parata and nephews Jacob, 11, and Luke Robinson, 12, to watch the racing yesterday.

He said they probably didn't know who any of the drivers were but they were big sports and car fans so it didn't matter.

"The kids are just buzzing about being here. They got a kick out of seeing all the Ferraris parked out the back."

Alan Wright-St Clair, who came to Taupo from Waihi with his fox terrier Paddy in his housevan, got all but one of the 19 drivers' autographs during the driver signing session after the sprint race.

He was told Brazil's Felipe Guimaraes was sleeping during the public signing session.

And despite being decked out in matching orange shirts to Netherlands drivers Dennis Retera and Robert Doornbos, Dutch couple Katja and Evan Bouw lined up to get Team New Zealand driver Chris van der Drift's autograph.

Meanwhile, Formula One hopeful 19-year-old Brendon Hartley took Opshop singer Jason Kerrison for a few laps in a Toyota Racing Series race car.

Thrill-seeking Kerrison said the ride, which reached speeds of 220km/h, didn't scare him as much as having to sing the national anthem before the feature race.

"I'll have to go away and rest my voice, it's getting a bit hoarse from all the screaming."

Police made no arrests throughout the event and St John Ambulance staff only treated people with heat-related illnesses and allergies.